Alonso fastest in Monaco first practice

48 comments on “Alonso fastest in Monaco first practice”

1. 

   IDR
   13th May 2010, 10:42

   Fastest in Monaco first practice is YOU keith, not Alonso!!!!
   1. 

      Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
      13th May 2010, 10:44

      I’ve had a bit of practice :-)
   2. 

      Antonio
      13th May 2010, 10:45

      You can say that again IDR :)!!!! Keith you are the fastest by far!
      1. 

         damonsmedley
         13th May 2010, 11:07

         Umm… as always!
2. 

   Accidental Mick
   13th May 2010, 10:44

   That is truly impresive, Keith – the speed with which you got this article up.
3. 

   Damon
   13th May 2010, 10:48

   Mercedes not doing many laps – any particular reason for that?
   1. 

      Vikas
      13th May 2010, 10:53

      They were trying to correct some understeer i presume…they’ve always had that problem this year…plus both drivers are using different wheelbases… so setups can be difficult to compare between the two since the cars are different
      1. 

         Charlie
         13th May 2010, 11:17

         As far as I know both drivers use a short-wheelbase version of the car.
      2. 

         BasCB
         13th May 2010, 11:17

         I understood both are using the original, shorter, wheelbase for Monaco. So maybe a different problem for Nico.
         1. 

            Patrickl
            13th May 2010, 12:22

            They are not using the “original” front suspension (wheelbase), but a Monaco specific one-off.
            1. 

               Mike
               15th May 2010, 9:10

               I thought it was the original wheelbase, merged with the updated aero package.
   2. 

      MigueLP
      13th May 2010, 12:04

      rosberg “Another driver who did very little running was Nico Rosberg, who spent much of the session in the pits while the Mercedes mechanics worked on a problem on his car.” i heard on bbc live coverage that it was a upright issue
4. 

   Sandman
   13th May 2010, 10:50

   Am i the only one psyched about Renault being at pace of Ferrari’s and Bulls ?
   1. 

      Damon
      13th May 2010, 10:53

      YES! I guess everyone over here in Poland is psyched about it. ;)

      I don’t know whether it is Renault being on par with Ferrari’s and RBR’s or Robert being on par with them, though.
      1. 

         damonsmedley
         13th May 2010, 11:10

         If it rains, I reckon Robert Kubica will have an equal chance at winning as anyone! Go Robert!
   2. 

      BasCB
      13th May 2010, 11:43

      Interestingly Robert noted before this session, that he is a bit worried, as Renault did not bring any new wings made especially for Monaco.

      From the times so far, i think it is safe to say they know what they are doing.
5. 

   GST
   13th May 2010, 10:57

   The first practice just shows how inadequate the Monaco street circuit is. Too narrow, too unsafe and just not enough room to swing a KERS system. This circuit was inadequate years ago.

   Let’s hope there’s not a crash or half the field will suffer.
   1. 

      Damon
      13th May 2010, 11:08

      “The first practice just shows how inadequate the Monaco street circuit is.”
      – And that’s why we love it so much!!! Hey!!
      1. 

         the-muffin-man
         13th May 2010, 11:16

         Yep – I love it too, probably my favourite GP after Spa. I could just watch one well driven car going around and around!!
      2. 

         SpaFan
         13th May 2010, 11:18

         Now compare it to the most beautifull track in the world, Spa.
         They had to close untill they made sure the pitlane and chicane were more safe because they weren’t safe enough.
         There is no place on earth more unsafe than the Monaco pitlane :s

         But it’s like they say, money talks
   2. 

      Henry
      13th May 2010, 12:57

      Monaco is an amazing circuit, just amazing – yes there is a problem for overtaking, but it is still hugely exciting and incredibly difficult to drive around. The speeds are not very high in comparison to most circuits, as a result it is not too unsafe.
      1. 

         Red Andy
         13th May 2010, 13:23

         I agree. There is room on the F1 calendar for all kinds of tracks. They don’t need to be overtaking-fests if they are challenging to the drivers – which Monaco certainly is.
6. 

   sumedh
   13th May 2010, 11:09

   And yet again, Felipe is slower than Kubika!!! Come on Felipe!! buck up!!
   1. 

      steph
      13th May 2010, 11:14

      I had to leave for the last part of practice -I saw Massa out earlier but did he go out again to post a time or did he stay in pits? The track gets quicker all through the weekend so I’m not too fussed about times but Ferrari seem good
      1. 

         BasCB
         13th May 2010, 11:19

         I think he did go out in the end, but nobody was able to improve much because of traffic and the yellow flag in the dying seconds of the session. So don’t give up hope Steph!
         1. 

            steph
            13th May 2010, 11:39

            Thanks very much BasCB :)
            1. 

               Edu
               13th May 2010, 12:11

               Mass was improving in the last minute with the fastest 2º sector but the yellow flags came.
7. 

   Marcin_
   13th May 2010, 11:17

   it’s just a practice, chill out ;-)
8. 

   rob
   13th May 2010, 11:17

   Am I the only one who is wondering why they moved practice to Thursday?
   1. 

      SpaFan
      13th May 2010, 11:20

      Its always been that way, friday is marketday in Monaco ;)
   2. 

      Ned Flanders
      13th May 2010, 11:23

      Practice is always on Thursday in Monaco
9. 

   TommyC
   13th May 2010, 11:23

   monaco practice is always on a thursday. i think the friday of the GP weekend is always a public holiday
   1. 

      TommyC
      13th May 2010, 11:24

      market day on friday, i see
10. 

    BasCB
    13th May 2010, 11:25

    Both Glock and Heikki have good pace, Jarno only a little behind. I suppose experience counts in FP1 in Monaco, as all Rookies bar Kobayashi are almost a second slower than their teammates. De la Rosa might count as a Rookie here as well he was a long time ago.

    If not for hitting the barriers, Chandhok was doing pretty good compared to Senna and the other cars. His time was set when the fastest times were about 1.17.
    1. 

       mirko_710
       13th May 2010, 12:23

       fastest GP2 time in practice 1m20.476s
       faster than di grassi, chandhok and senna
       1. 

          graigchq
          13th May 2010, 13:08

          lmao… that shows two things..

          A) that the new teams are still a long way off

          and

          B) that aero and outright power count for very little at this track, it’s driver experience/skill/bravery, coupled with pure mechanical grip that gives the very fastest times.
11. 

    f1yankee
    13th May 2010, 11:31

    hey keith, where are you staying? your usual suite at the hotel de paris, or take the yacht?
    1. 

       Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
       13th May 2010, 12:19

       You must have me confused with some other Keith :-)
12. 

    steph
    13th May 2010, 11:44

    Knew I would miss a crash, I’m going to have to watch iPlayer later then. I did ask in the docs waiting room whether they would put the TV on F1 practice instead of just playing the same stupid healthy eating, 5 fruit a day advert but I didn’t get the result I was hoping for :P :(
13. 

    Todfod
    13th May 2010, 11:45

    Great to see Fernando topping the time sheets for the first time since the practice sessions in Bahrain.

    Im expecting a close quali for pole between Sebastian, Fernando , Mark and Lewis. But I think Alonso should dominate this weekend if its dry.
14. 

    SeattleChris
    13th May 2010, 12:19

    Red Bull definitely have the car for Monaco. I don’t expect Ferrari are doing as well as they seem to be. I do feel it will be really close and probably come down to lap traffic blocking good runs. Vettel and Webber have a 90% chance to be on pole. Once we get to faster tracks I think we will see Ferrari and Mclaren running out front.
15. 

    Dog
    13th May 2010, 12:36

    Ferrari surprising me, it was not long ago since they had a problem with race pace, but after the Ferrari engine has fixed a sudden they are very fast which makes me suspect that Ferrari cheating the FIA supports the Ferrari not surprising with me, because you know it what I’m talking about.
    1. 

       BasCB
       13th May 2010, 12:47

       Maybe the explanation is in here: http://scarbsf1.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/ferrari-spanish-gp-engine-specification/

       12 hp is not bad for a reliability update.
    2. 

       Red Andy
       13th May 2010, 13:25

       Mercedes have updated their engine to “improve reliability” several times over the past couple of years. Each update has accidentally provided a boost in horsepower too. Why is this only a problem when Ferrari do it?
    3. 

       BeyondThePale
       13th May 2010, 14:09

       Yeah sure. Only McLaren has a right to win. If anyone else does, they have to be cheating.
    4. 

       David A
       13th May 2010, 17:06

       So Renault do it (for themselves and Red Bull), and Mercedes do it (for themselves, Brawn, Mclaren and Force India) and it’s fine, but if Ferrari do it, then they’re cheating? Typical.
16. 

    SonyJunkie
    13th May 2010, 12:38

    I’m probably late to the party here but I’ve just discovered the excellent data about the cars available on the McLaren website http://mclaren.com/home

    It shows the car data and pit talk during practice and I imagine qualifying and the race.
17. 

    wasiF1
    14th May 2010, 8:36

    Nice to see Kubica out there, I wouldn’t be surprise to see him out there on the top 5 come raceday. Nico’s bad luck continues as he will lose crucial laps by sitting in the pit, I hope his car come good in the weekend.
    Ferrari’s look strong nut this is nothing as I said before the race may be won on Saturday.

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